UN climate change talks open in Tianjin

About 3,000 delegates from party and observer countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol are attending the meeting on Oct 4-9.

The Tianjin gathering is the final meeting before the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Cancun at the end of this year, and the first time that such formal meeting has been convened in China.

At the opening session, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres urged the negotiators to accelerate the search for common ground and demonstrate "flexibility" and "a spirit of compromise" to reach a balanced outcome.

"If you want a tangible outcome in December, now is the time to clarify what could constitute an achievable and politically balanced package for Cancun," she said.

Negotiations on several key issues had not progressed as yet, including the future of the Kyoto Protocol and the pledges put forward by the parties to slow down the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, she said.

Figueres cited the idea of "seeking commonalities while putting aside differences" raised by former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1955, saying that it is as pertinent now as it was then.

At the plenary session held Monday morning, delegates from UNFCCC member countries expressed their sense of urgency to reach a more balanced and legally-binding agreement, and focused on the topic of financing, which is the major block to reaching common ground.

The European Union reaffirmed that it will contribute 2.4 billion euros annually from 2010 to 2012 as the bloc reiterated a quick capital injection was crucial for preparing for the implementation of the new climate change agreement.

"For the EU, multilateralism, within the UN framework, remains the core of finding global solutions for global perspective," according to an EU statement distributed to the delegates.

"Our expectation for the end of this session is to have a draft of a balanced set of decisions available for our further considerations," it said.

Makase Nyaphisi, on behalf of the Least Developed Countries (LDC), said the need for adequate and accessible financial support has become more urgent in the face of continued adverse effects of climate change.

"It is not morally responsible to continue leaving the most vulnerable countries, particularly the LDCs, to overstretch their limited national resources towards addressing climate change related disasters at the expense of their social and economic developments," he said.

"We are looking forward to negotiations that would lead to creation of a new fund that will streamline the various funding sources and needs under the Convention", he said.

China's State Councilor Dai Bingguo said China will continue playing an active and constructive part in the climate talks; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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